Thai boys rescued from cave must wait to embrace family

Four were rescued on Sunday and another four were rescued in a faster operation on Monday, after two weeks trapped in the cave complex in north-western Thailand.

While there's relief the boys are safe, their families are yet to have contact - and it's unclear whether the families know which boys have been rescued and which ones remain trapped.

The identity of the rescued boys has not been confirmed by authorities. Rescue mission chief and former governor of the Chiang Rai province Narongsak Osottanakorn said the boys were not being named out of respect for the families who still had sons trapped in the cave.

The boys have been kept isolated because of a fear of infection, and Fairfax Media understands they have only been able to speak to family members through a window.

Earlier, Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong, a Ministry of Health doctor at the hospital where the first four rescued boys were being treated, said that reunions with their families would be delayed by 24 hours because of the need to perform exhaustive health checks. After that, if all the tests were negative, then family could visit, he said.

However some of the parents told Reuters they had not been told who had been rescued and that they were not allowed to visit the hospital.

Somboon Sompiangjai, 38, the father of one of the trapped boys, said parents were told by rescuers ahead of Sunday's operation the "strongest children" would be brought out first.

"We have not been told which child has been brought out ... We can't visit our boys in hospital because they need to be monitored for 48 hours," Somboon told Reuters on Monday.

"I'm hoping for good news."

The exact health of the eight boys has not been released, but on Monday officials said the first four boys requested a meal of pad kra pao, a chicken dish with sweet basil.

For now, the boys are eating a rice-based porridge because they are still too weak to take regular food, authorities said.